Cold (ROTG fanfic)
by Novtrizonic Horizon
Summary: I'm scrapping this story unless I can find motivation for it. It's just not interesting for me anymore. :\ Sorry, all who wanted more. At least you got this much out of me, as my stories usually don't go beyond four pages, in real writing AND typing. I got 23 pages into Word typing this, so yeah. HIATUS. -WS
1. Prologue

"Where are you taking me?" Winston asked, not for the first time as he trudged through the snow next to the strange pale boy with the crooked staff. Winston, he thought, and grimaced as he remembered his own name. He'd always hated it, but now, it didn't really matter. The only person around to care was the boy, and he had been walking with him for over two days since the events at Burgess, but had never once asked Winston his name.

"I don't know," came the reply, rough and unhappy, "but I don't mean to take you anywhere."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Winston nearly screamed at him, tired of getting this same response over and over again and again. However, the boy turned his staff on him and gave him an icy glare from startlingly blue eyes.

"I mean," he said slowly and darkly, "that I didn't take you. I saved you, but half of B-" his voice caught here, and he lowered his staff slightly, glancing down. Some of the tension in his shoulders released, he sighed deeply and continued, "Half of Burgess was destroyed. The explosion…" he trailed off his another sigh and shrugged helplessly. Before he could turn and keep moving, Winston reached out and caught his shoulder.

"Hey," he said softly, and the boy gave him a surprised look. "I'm sorry about the way I acted. I'm just cold, confused, and away from home with a strange kid in a strange forest…" he chuckled lightly. "I don't know why I didn't ask before, but what's your name?" he paused before adding, "I'm Winston."

"…Jack." The boy replied after a moment's hesitation, and a sudden snowy breeze tousled his white hair. Winston nearly made a connection with the name Jack and the white hair, and the breeze too, but it failed him. Had he noticed Jack wasn't wearing any shoes, he might have known. However, when he and Jack shook hands, the icy touch of his fingers shook him into awareness.

"You're not cold?" Winston queried, a slight frown marring his features as he noticed Jack's hand wasn't red with the chill and neither was his face. For the first time he noticed Jack wasn't even dressed warmly, either. Just a blue hoodie that had weird designs on it in places, like the neck and the ends of the sleeves, and tan pants. No shoes.

Jack hesitated before replying. He thought at first to bluff his way out, but then he realized it was hopeless as, if he were human, he would be red all over and shivering to the bone. "No." he said at last.

"J-Jack!" Winston exclaimed, startled and suddenly caring for the boy. "Come on, you'll freeze out here."

"I make it freeze…" Jack muttered to himself unintentionally, his voice huffy and dark, and also very quiet, but Winston managed to catch it.

"What?" Winston asked suspiciously. He had begun to suspect something, but he didn't trust himself to believe himself. Besides, there was no such thing as…

"Jack Frost."

"Huh?" Winston asked, not understanding. He had been buried so deep in his thoughts, he hadn't heard Jack.

"You wanted my name. That's my full name, since I only told you part of it," Jack said, and motioned with his staff, making small circles, as if prompting Winston to reply.

Still Winston's brain refused to acknowledge this new information, and Winston said, "Waaaaaait…You're telling me, you're supposed to be the…the…" Winston struggled with words, trying to hold back hysteria. Now that he thought about it, his own theory seemed impractical and stupid. "The Winter Spirit?" he said finally in a jeering manner.

"Yeah," Jack replied defiantly, a hard gleam in his eyes as he stared down the taller man. "I am, ok?"

"No." Winston stated, an angry tone overcoming his voice again. His voice rose as he half-shouted hysterically, "It's not ok! I didn't want to come to Burgess. I don't want to be out here, stuck in the woods while I'm cold and shivering. Least of all, I don't want to be in that same situation, with a crazy person who thinks he's Jack FROST!"

Immediately Jack shouted back, "I AM JACK FROST!" his voice almost a roar.

"Prove it." Winston challenged, arms crossed. However, they didn't remain like that for long, for as soon as Jack touched his staff to a nearby tree and swirling patterns of frost spiraled out, his jaw dropped and his arms fell to his sides in amazement.

"Think fast." Jack advised, and sooner than Winston could think at all, a snowball was flying at his face. He ducked clear but soon realized that hitting him was not Jack's intention- the snowball slammed into the bare-branched tree just behind Winston with enough force to make it wobble and dump a heavy load of fresh snow onto Winston.

"Hey!" He spluttered, confused and angry as he tried to brush the snow out of his dark brown hair. "What was that for?"

"For fun, what else?" Jack replied teasingly, and soon had another snowball in his hand, but this time he didn't throw it. He shrugged and looked at Winston apologetically. "Sorry," he said, "I forget you humans get cold. And you freeze." He added with a good-natured chuckle.

"Yeah, well, don't do it again!" Winston shot back nastily, glaring daggers with angry green eyes.

"Oh, calm down and give me a break. I haven't felt cold in three hundred years." Jack replied nonchalantly, swinging his staff idly as he walked in circles.

"Whaaa…" Winston found himself saying as he struggled to understand Jack's words. He had thought, even if Jack was really Jack Frost, then he still had a human lifespan, right? Maybe people just kept replacing one another after the last Jack Frost died. But apparently he was wrong.

"Wow, you really do seem confused easily," Jack commented, seeming impressed. With the ease born of thousands of times doing the same action, Jack leap up into a tree and perched on one of the branches, which was easily ten feet off the ground.

"What the- how'd you do that?!" Winston stuttered as he stumbled to his feet, most of the snow finally off.

"You saw me. I jumped." Jack said.

"Y-Yeah but that's…that's impossible." Winston said. "Nobody can jump that high."

"You seriously think it's impossible, after what I just showed you? After I convinced you I really am Jack Frost? I flew, ok? Fllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeewwwwww www." Jack sounded out the word again, adding, "Meaning to flllllllyyyyyyyy."

"I'm not that stupid," Winston said as Jack hung his staff by the crooked end on the branch and jumped off, sliding down the length of the wood and dropping to the ground. His bare feet made almost no sound at all as he sunk, nearly knee deep in the snow. Winston hadn't noticed before, but wherever the strange boy touched the staff, there was a faint icy-blue glow, or maybe it was simply just frost coating the staff. It would make sense, though, Winston mused, if Jack Frost was-

"Hey." Jack was snapping his fingers in Winston's face, just below his nose. Even from here he could feel the cold radiating off Jack's skin. "I said we need to keep moving. You can hear me, right?"

"Sorry." Winston said, but he wasn't sure he meant it. Jack had begun to walk again and Winston wasn't sure if he would be comfortable with or even be able to start friendly conversation with the spirit. "Sooo, uhm, Burgess. Been there a long time?" he said as he jogged a few paces to keep up with Jack. The snow piled up and pressed against his legs, so for a few steps he lifted his feet high up and clear of the snow.

"Yeah. Before I was Jack Frost, I had a family there, and one day I fell through the ice on a lake saving my sister...We were ice skating." A smile played on his face as he thought of his sister. He wondered if he'd ever be able to see her again, but that was unlikely. He knew. He couldn't die, and he knew for sure his sister was… He shook his head slightly, trying to clear it. The thought didn't seem right.

"I'm sorry." Was all Winston could say to try and comfort Jack. Something was nagging him and he couldn't think of what it was, but he knew Jack was familiar somehow.

"You know, you had to have believed in me, or else you wouldn't have been able to see me?" Jack asked as he changed the subject, eyebrows raised. Winston realized Jack was in control of the conversation and that he was probably going to make it as difficult for Winston as he could. "You don't seem like the believing type." Winston felt his face flush angrily and he hunched his shoulders a bit, but then the realization hit him.

"You're on the statue." He said suddenly.

Now it was Jack's turn to be confused. "What?" he asked, giving Winston a strange look.

"You know the statue of the Burgess family in the town square? You're in it." Winston explained. "I don't know how you didn't see it, since the statue's been here for over a century, but you're there."

"I-I am?" Jack said, eyes wide with amazement.

"You're crouched on one side, just behind the mom, who must have been your mom, which is why you never saw it. You just didn't think to look."

"We have to go back."

"Jack, the town's evacuated. And half destroyed, as you said yourself." Winston pointed out. "AND it's too far away by now."

"That doesn't matter." Jack replied, and seized Winston by the arm. Before he knew it he was up in the air, his only comfort the feeling of a clenched fist around his arm. He screamed and shut his eyes with terror, but Jack said, "Relax, I'm not going to drop you. You'll be fine."

"S-Scared…of…heights!" Winston yelped, and refused to look.

"Your loss!" Jack shouted over the wind as he whooped with joy, unaffected by the icy particles that stung Winston's face and caused him to bury his head in his free arm. He didn't know how it had taken Jack to fly back to Burgess, but soon the wind abated and he risked a look down, all too soon. He gasped but couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight of the half-ruined town. It was empty and decimated, but the sight from above was something to behold. "There's the statue!" he said and pointed as he spotted the grey stone figures. Jack shot towards it and Winston's hand was instantly whipped back by the force of the wind, but in a moment they were at the statue and Jack set him down. He rubbed the spot where the icy hand has gripped him for so long and walked next to Jack up to the statue.

Approaching the statue, Winston walked around it to the right, where he could see the crouching figure with the long stick that was surely Jack. He glanced back at the winter spirit and saw him grinning like a child on Christmas- and that thought reminded Winston that it WAS Christmas. He sighed. Because people had seen him "fleeing" the explosion that wrecked the beautiful place, they thought he did it. He'd read about it in a lone newspaper that had floated by when he and Jack were walking, and he had read it with many a snort of contempt. The paper claimed the young man Winston Haller had set off a massive bomb and was seen fleeing the scene, presumably wounded due to his limping gait. Really, Jack had yanked Winston out of the way of the explosion, allowing him to escape all damage except a slightly scorched foot that caused Winston a little bit of trouble, but not much. Determined to thank the person who had saved him, Winston had followed Jack, but something…something happened, and although he didn't know what- he fell unconscious- Jack had later insisted that Winston follow him.

"All this time, I never knew…" Jack was saying as he stared at the statue version of himself. He leaned on his staff and sighed contentedly. "I guess it does look like me, huh?"

"Are you kidding me, Jack? It looks exactly like you! There's no way it isn't you. I mean look, he's even got a staff!" Winston said, pointing at the staff. It was held backwards so the crooked end never faced forward- maybe it Jack had seen the crooked side, he'd have noticed.

"That means… My name was Jack Burgess." Winston heard his companion murmur. "But now I'm Jack Frost…"

"Hey, cheer up. I'm sure your family would be proud of you." Winston said, and patted Jack on the shoulder.

"But they wouldn't know me." Jack contradicted forlornly.

"Yeah," Winston insisted firmly, shaking his shoulder slightly, "Yeah they would. You might look different. You might be immortal. You might have control over winter. But you're still the same guy under all that, ok?" Winston paused and added, "You were Jack Burgess, but now, you're Jack Frost."


	2. Chapter 1- Burgess

Having departed the ruins of Burgess again, Jack and Winston had agreed it would be best if they headed south instead of their previous direction- after all, they had just defeated the purpose of going north in coming back to Burgess. Jack had obliged to Winston's request to stay earthbound after Jack offered to fly them out. Instead they had walked through the undamaged portion of Burgess.

"It's strange to see this place so empty," Jack commented after about an hour's worth of walking. "For three hundred years it's always been bustling about and lit up, getting bigger all the time…" he sighed wistfully and glanced at Winston. "You're not from here, huh?"

"Nah. I came from down south, in California." Winston replied. "I was visiting family…For a funeral."

"Oh." Jack said. "Who…Who was it?" he asked tentatively. He had a hunch who it was, but he wasn't sure.

"My mom…We weren't real close, you know? She always got mad at me and my dad, so they divorced and my dad got full custody of me. I've lived in California since I was twelve." Winston sighed. "Still…It was a shock, because she was fine one day and…The next day she was gone. Crashed while skiing." Winston eyed Jack carefully.

Jack's face was downcast and he pulled the hood of his jacket up to hide his face. He stabbed the butt of his staff at the hard asphalt ground absently, and ice sheeted out from where it touched. Winston stepped on some by accident, his step already in motion when Jack touched the ground. He slipped and fell forward with a shout, flailing his arms wildly to try and catch himself. Jack reached out quickly and caught Winston by the collar of his thick winter coat, jerking him back off the ice. "Sorry." He said. He hood had flown back as he grabbed Winston, and he quickly tugged it up again.

"S'okay," Winston mumbled, trying to catch his breath, which had been yanked out of him, "Thanks."

"It's nothing. I really should thank you, you know, for showing me the statue." Jack said, glancing up. Winston noticed that while his own breath fogged out in front of him, flying into his face in big puffy clouds as he walked, Jack's breath did not. In response to Jack's thanks, he shrugged.

After that they continued in silence. Soon enough they had reached the edge of the town, and were walking again into the forest, but this time they followed a paved road. It was iced over, no doubt because of Jack, but it was a road nonetheless. No cars passed along it; It was to be assumed, since nobody was left in Burgess. "So where are we going now?"

"Hmhhhhhh…." Jack exhaled softly. _I can't go to any of the other Guardians…Man, this year-long expulsion sucks, _Jack thought indignantly. After nearly wrecking Bunnymund's Warren the day before Easter and lying to the Tooth Fairy to try and get her to help him out of the situation, the younger Guardian had been exiled for a year, which was nothing to the immortal Guardians, but right now, it was all the time in the world. He had been denied contact with any other Guardian, so it was like an extra-long shunning.

"There's another town in…" Winston trailed off his excited statement as a bush that partly covered the sign he'd spotted moved, revealing that the next town was not ten but one hundred miles away. "Oh." He said, crestfallen and dejected. "Well that's just great." He harrumphed. With a sigh, he changed the subject, "Could you tell me what happened the first night? You told me I was unconscious."

At the mention of the other night, Jack's shoulder's stiffened and he gripped his staff a little tighter. "Uhm…" he said uncertainly. In truth it had been a strange happening. Out of nowhere a branch had fallen and knocked Winston out, and from there things just went downhill. The low whirring of a helicopter distracted Jack and he looked up. "I'll be just a minute." He said quickly, but Winston caught his sleeve. As ever, the cold was startling, but he persisted.

"What're you going to do?" he queried before Jack could fly up.

"I'm going to fly out and see what that helicopter's up to. The tree coverage is too thick here." Jack said and tugged his sleeve out of Winston's grip. He shot straight up and landed in a pine tree, perching there where he could see the helicopter. The black craft was no news or medical copter; no, it was a military one.

"I am sorry, Winston, truly am, but we have to back again." Jack called as he dropped out of the tree.

"What for?" Winston perked up. He had sat down on a boulder while he waited for Jack.

"It's a military helicopter…That can't be good." Jack explained.

"Military…" Winston muttered, then abruptly stood up. He stuck his arm out and said, when Jack stared uncomprehendingly, "Well, it's important, so fly us there."

"You- You're serious?" Jack asked, incredulous. "The heights?" he prompted, and in response, Winston lifted his other arm and covered his face.

"Just don't go too high," came the muffled reply, "or they'll see me- I don't know about you. That'll for sure cause trouble."

"Alright. Here we go!" Jack said gleefully as he grabbed Winston's arm and yanked him into the air. The wind rushed past his face and he skimmed the treetops, keeping low to Winston's advice. "Don't look down!" he teased, knowing that was what many people did told not to do so. However, Winston was smart and heeded the advice with a level head.

"Yeaup," he yelped, "I got that."

"Good!" Jack shouted above the wind, "But you can look now. We're almost there." Yet Winston refused to uncover his face until they had fully landed on solid ground. They had, by a stroke of luck, avoided detection and made it safely back to the edges of Burgess. "And now we run." Jack said lightly, letting go of Winston and starting off at a slow jog. He sped up as soon as Winston caught level to him, and soon the two were sprinting down the empty streets, following the helicopter to where it landed. The sleek black craft was landed right next to the statue in the square. About a half dozen men streamed out, and all were armed and ready, weapons loaded. Winston gasped lightly and shrank back against a building, trying to sink into shadows. Jack, however, remained out in the open, knowing only those who believed in him would be able to see him- and Jack doubted trained soldiers would believe in a person who was thought to be a myth.

But then they pointed their guns at him.

And they fired.

"NO!" Winston shouted, leaping away from the building, and the soldiers stopped firing, giving the Guardian enough time to fly up, where people tended not to look. He hovered up above them, his white hair being tossed around the wind that had struck up. He gripped his staff and made sure he was ready to fight if he had to.

"Hands up!" One of the foremost soldiers commanded Winston. He let the other soldiers look for the weird looking kid who'd somehow disappeared.

Winston raised his arms slowly, breathing heavily. His chest heaved with every breath he took, but he soon calmed. The soldier who had commanded him approached, not putting his gun down. "Please…Please don't hurt me." Winston flinched as the soldier walked up.

The soldier, figuring the young man was no threat, lowered his gun with a sigh. "Where's that other kid?" he asked. When Winston shrugged, the soldier lifted his gun slightly in a threatening manner.

"I seriously don't know where he went, alright?" Winston lied. He knew exactly where Jack had gone, even though he hadn't seen him. The only place Jack could go that quickly, and the only place there really was for him to go, was up.

Suddenly another man shouted, "Up there!" and there was a loud crack as the first gun was fired, then more. Winston gasped as he thought he saw the winter spirit get hit, but he realized he was dropping below all the bullets. Winston knew it wasn't going to be long before they realized where Jack had gone and adjusted, so he shoved past the soldier who had talked to him and ran to the others, knocking into them and shoving them down. "STOP!" he yelled as loud as he could.

One of the soldiers got up and shoved him back, caught him by the arm as he fell, and pulled him close, likely to reprimand him for ordering them around, but both the soldier and Winston froze, eyes wide and staring. "Rick," Winston murmured. Likewise, his brother said, "Winston!"

A wide grin split Rick's previously serious features. He grabbed his brother and wrapped him in a fierce bear-hug. "I missed you, bro!" he said enthusiastically, but Winston was too stunned for words.

"I- they- wha…" the stuttered when Rick released him, and finally managed to say, "They said you were dead!"

Rick frowned, puzzled. "They did?" Winston nodded, still staring. "Well, it doesn't matter. I'm here now and I'm not dead."

"Rick…Mom is." Winston said softly. The frown faded from Rick's face to a look for shock.

"I-I know she didn't like us but…Man…" Rick rubbed the back of his neck, glancing around. He realized the rest of the soldiers were watching the brotherly reunion. "Knock it off!" he scolded. While his voice was deeper than Winston's and held more command, the relation was evident. They both had the same joyful green eyes, and their hair was similarly the same tone of brown, though Winston's was a tad darker. They were both tall and powerfully built, and their faces were very much average, but characterized by those eyes that always were filled with emotion.

"Sorry." Winston said, glancing around. "You ok?"

"Yeah, s'pose so. So who was that other-" Rick began, but Winston cut him off.

"JACK!" he shouted as his friend appeared from the shadows unharmed. The other five soldiers had dispersed to investigate the area and didn't notice the white haired boy.

Winston rushed from his near-twin's side and hugged the freezing-cold spirit. Jack stopped in surprise and after a moment hugged Winston back. "Honestly," he chided, "It wasn't like I was going to die."

"They shot at you!" Winston said indignantly, glaring at him.

"Please. You think they would be able to hit me?" Jack scoffed and rolled his eyes, concealing a snort of laughter.

Winston considered and finally relented. "I stand corrected." He said smartly.

"Cheer up! You-" Jack began, but before he knew it Winston was tugging him by the sleeve over to Rick, who stared at Jack.

Winston was grinning ear to ear. "Jack, this is my brother, Rick Haller. Rick, this is…Gosh, you'll think I'm insane, but, this is Jack Frost." He refused to let how crazy that sounded get to him and he kept on grinning, not about to let however Rick responded get to him.

"Oh I believe you." Rick said, to Winston and Jack's dual surprise. They glanced at each other and Jack shrugged. "I saw you fly. No regular person would be able to do that." Jack smiled appreciatively and reached out to shake his hand. Rick accepted the hand and recoiled slightly with shock at the icy touch.

Jack smiled apologetically. "Sorry," he said. Rick nodded. "So you're really ok with all this?" he asked, releasing the man's hand.

"Little freaky, but, yeah. Yeah. I think I'll be good." Rick sighed, and looked around. "Do you have a place to stay?"

"Kinda." Jack replied. "It's a tree by the frozen lake."

"The frozen…No way… You mean that lake that's been frozen over for what, 300 years?" Rick's eyes widened.

"The one and only." Jack chuckled. "It's frozen because of me."

"Where are we going to go now?" Winston jumped in the conversation, mildly annoyed. As far as he knew none of them had any destination in mind. They didn't have any plans.

Then there was a huge explosion. It mimicked the one that had ravaged the majority of Burgess, but this explosion was unseen. It was underground and was felt in a massive boom and a huge earthquake. The earth shook and the ground started to shudder. Then everything was silent for just a moment, but it was not silent for long. The ground moved again. It began to collapse with a massive groan and cracks in the ground showed the earth below the surface glowing yellow with heat. Jack didn't like it and knew it was bad right away. "Hang on!" he shouted and snatched up the brothers, yanking them into the air as he flew up, doubly gripping Rick in one hand as well as his staff...


	3. Chapter 2- The Pole

Burgess was gone.

There was nothing left, nothing for them to return to. Everything was gone. Burgess was a huge, black pit in the ground. Burgess was a lost city never to be brought back. Burgess was gone. Tears were not something Jack Frost knew very well, but he cried now as they escaped the wreckage. Tears streaked his pale face and he said nothing as he flew. Soon enough he found a place for them to stay for a while, in a clearing that Rick and Winston began to clear of snow. They let Jack be, knowing he was upset over the loss of Burgess. It was nighttime now, the daylight gone for a while. Jack was on edge and the brothers couldn't understand why, but in truth, is had only been a month after the defeat of Pitch.

"Jack?" Rick asked, breaking the silence that had befallen the trio. He looked up to the spirit, who was sitting in a tree.

"Yeah?" Jack sniffed, not looking at Rick. His hood was up to hid his face again, and his staff lay across his lap.

"Is it ok if I light a fire?" Rick said. "I know-"

"Go ahead, I just won't come near it." Jack said, and while nobody knew it but himself, he was smiling slightly at Rick's display of courtesy. However, the smile faded as he sighed and said, "I just don't know what to do. Obviously whoever's out there destroying stuff isn't going to stop at Burgess. I don't know anyone who could help." That last part was a lie and Jack knew it. There were four others Guardians out there that would be perfect help, but he was forbidden contact with them at all.

Rick nodded solemnly, guessing you'd need another mythical figure to get back at this pyro that kept blowing stuff up and not more humans. He got up to gather firewood but Winston stopped him and offered to do it himself. They ended up going together, and soon enough they had a nice enough fire going. Jack was sure to stay in his tree, but he did edge a bit further away from the flickering yellow warmth. "So, if Jack Frost's real," Winston began in a low murmur, facing away from Jack, "I bet that means the others are too!"

"Wha-what others, Winston?" Rick queried, not understanding.

"You know, like the Tooth Fairy, Santa, and the Easter Bunny!" Winston said eagerly, but in his excitement his voice got a little louder than intended and Jack was able to pick up on the words. However, he listened for Rick's response before speaking up.

"C'mon, really? I hardly think-" Rick began.

"They're real," Jack said. "And they could help us, but I can't go near them for a year."

Winston stuck his tongue out at Rick playfully, who slapped his chin and caused Winston to yelp. Rick turned to Jack and said indignantly, "You said that you didn't know anyone who could help!"

"Technically they can't, since I kinda messed up and they banned me for a while." Jack rubbed the back of his neck nervously and drumming his fingers on his staff idly. "It's uhm…A long story." He smiled a bit sheepishly at them.

"Wait- Jack! Would they come if somebody else needed help, not you?" Winston asked suddenly, in sharp contrast to Rick's crestfallen face.

"I…Uh…" Jack motioned helplessly. "I really don't know. You'd have to get to one of them, and I don't know where but three of them…Those three…are not likely to help. And Sandman's all over the place."

"You could take us to the one of the three who would be most likely to help," Rick suggested, having perked up at Winston's idea.

"Yeah but I can't go." Jack pointed out.

"That's just it!" Winston cried, catching on immediately. "You don't have to come into contact with whoever it is, just drop us off and we'll handle it from there."

"It might work…Bunny, no…Tooth, probably not, and North…" Jack began to mutter to himself, and then said a little louder, "North it is." When the brothers stared at him uncomprehendingly, he said, "Santa."

"You're serious?" Winston asked in disbelief.

Jack chuckled. "Oh he's real alright, and he's nothing like you ever imagined."

"Ever?" Winston asked to clarify.

"EVER." He reassured him. "Think: Russian, tattoos, attitude." Jack laughed when Rick's jaw dropped at his statement, and Winston murmured something softly. "But we have to go tomorrow, or else he won't be there- remember, it's Christmas."

That was the end of their discussion. Jack kept watch while Rick and Winston slept, their fire slowly dying as the night wore on. Jack, reluctant as he was to get near the flames, knew they would freeze if their fire went out. He grabbed a good long branch and pondered tossing it from above, but he figured the sparks would fly up and catch fire somewhere, and then they'd all have to leave again. After debating whether or not to use his staff, he sighed and ended up inching up to the fire, holding the branch in one hand and his staff out away from the fire; however, he must have stepped on a twig or Winston's hand, for the young man woke and asked, "Jack?" blinking.

Jack welcomed the opportune moment and shoved the branch at Winston, who looked at him, startled. "Put that on the fire; it'll die otherwise." Jack replied as he danced away from the warmth of the fire. Winston complied and gently set it down.

"Thanks, Jack." Winston said appreciatively through a yawn. He settled down again and was soon asleep, his nose smashed against the ground. He snored loudly because of this, and Rick stirred but didn't wake. The branch fizzled and popped before it snapped, but the only one to hear it was Jack. The noise kept him awake, and he shook his head, realizing he was almost asleep. The night went peacefully aside from the fire cracking and Winston snoring, but Jack drifted off into sleep without his own realizing it. The morning came and Jack blinked awake to the sunlight glinting off freshly fallen snow. His first concern was for the brothers- at least two feet of snow had fallen in the night without Jack meaning for it to. However, he realized that his concern was naught, for Rick was already up and Winston was too, tending to the fire, which was still going strong now that someone was constantly kindling it. Jack stretched quietly and tapped the branch he was sitting on with his staff to get the brothers' attention.

"Hi," Winston said, waving. Rick didn't reply, his face stricken and stressed. He seemed afraid and tense. Noticing Jack's look of concern, Winston said softly, "He had a nightmare."

Jack's fears were confirmed. Pitch! "What was it about? Did he say?" Jack asked, head tilted as he leaned on his staff, far from the fire. Winston shook his head as he walked up to Jack.

"He won't tell me. It's weird. He usually doesn't get this worked up over dreams." Winston replied, glancing back at his brother. Jack shook his head right away.

"Well, he'll have to tell me, or I'll make him." He said firmly, and proceeded to stride over to Rick, but Winston stopped him, groping at his jacket and saying, "Wait, wait, wait!"

"What're you doing?! It's just a nightmare; he'll get over it, I'm sure. I don't see why it's so important." Winston said hoarsely, lifting his arms and letting them drop to his sides again. Jack gave him a hard look and gently pushed him away before continuing on to Rick, who sat huddled in a crouching position by the fire. Jack stood behind him, as reluctant to come near the golden light as ever.

"What happened in your dream, Rick?" Jack asked. He knew Rick wouldn't respond, and sighed when his assumption was proved to be correct. Rick turned slightly and gave him a fearful look, his eyes wide with fright and worn with exhaustion; he had dark bags under his eyes and his face was haggard, that of a man deprived of peaceful sleep. "You can tell me. I know how to help."

"You. You were in my nightmare," Rick said hoarsely, and elaborated as Jack frowned in confusion. "You were dying, but not really. It was like you…your personality, your story, all that you are, was crumbling, and someone…something else was being put in. Another person was laughing in the shadows, and the darkness just…consumed you." Rick shuddered and choked back a sob; he didn't know if the sorrow was because he cared for Jack Frost or because of the sheer horror he felt at seeing someone being killed like that. Maybe it was both. Maybe it was neither. None of the solutions Rick thought up felt quite right.

"You gonna be alright?" Jack asked, putting his hand on Rick's shoulder and he knelt beside him. Rick started a bit as he felt the sudden cold on his shoulder and Jack withdrew his hand just as Rick replied.

"I-I think. But didn't you say we needed to go to S- North?" Rick asked, looking at Jack.

"Yeah. You want to go now, or wait for a bit?" Jack said, trying to be considerate for Rick's sake. However, he shook his head and refused to be weak; he was a soldier and soldiers kept going no matter what.

"The sooner we go the better. Nobody knows when that stupid pyro who blew up Burgess is going to strike again. With what bad luck we've had so far, it won't be long." Rick said, a hard gleam in his eyes as he stood and brushed snow off his pants. "Winston!" he called out, and his brother came over right away, grinning. He'd been listening in and he was happy with how Rick acted.

"I think I might take a peek this time, just to see the North Pole." He considered, but threw his arm up over his face anyway. Rick did away with this precaution, as he preferred to be able to see where he was going, and readied himself to be yanked up into the air. The air rushed from his lungs for a moment as he was ripped from the earth, but he soon recovered.

There was a flurry of motion and snow as the wind kicked up and swirled around Jack and the brothers, pulling them toward the Pole. It became unbearably cold for Rick, who ended up curling his head in his arm for the small relief it provided, and before long Winston was just as cold, but he could only curl further into his own arm, which had been up across his face since the moment Jack took them off the ground. As the chill ate down through their clothes and skin right to the bone, Rick and Winston's teeth gnashed together and chattered constantly. Jack, however, whooped with delight. He would never get over the thrill of flying, he thought, after three hundred years of it. He just loved the wind in his face and the snow whirling around him, just all of it. Every last thing about the experience, from the cold to the snow, was enough to make him wish he could just fly forever. However this flight was not long at all, and before Jack knew it- it was long enough for the brothers, who were very much willing the flight to end- the North Pole was in sight.

There was a certain beauty about it. It was only one building of simple wood, but it was filled with life, even from the outside. The windows were filled with light and if one listened close enough, music could be heard drifting through the air. Jagged cliffs of stiff white ice framed the place, sheer majesty overcoming and dwarfing the lonely workshop. Jack had long since slowed down and now said with a chuckle, "Gentlemen, welcome to the North Pole." Rick uncovered his face first and was gawking before he could say anything.

"C'mon, Winston, take a look." Jack encouraged, shaking him gently. Winston shakily moved his arm, his faced still scrunched up. He slowly allowed his face to relax as he dared to open his eyes. He gasped and ignored the height at which Jack hovered in awe of the sight.

"It's…It's…" Winston couldn't figure out what to say. Beautiful? Amazing? Fantastic?

"Oh man, if this is how you react to the Pole you should see the Tooth Palace!" Jack burst out laughing at their reactions; the Pole, really, was not all that big and bold. However, he refrained from pointing this out as he realized the brothers might simply be shocked that there actually was such a place as this. As he recovered from his laughter lights spiraled out from the top of the small building; North was summoning the Guardians together!

Jack gasped and started forward, but he remembered his banishment and his face fell. "Well, perfect timing, I guess." He said a bit forlornly.

"It's ok, Jack, we'll be sure to convince North to help," Winston said.

"Yeah, and we'll even get him to end your ban, too!" Rick cheered, punching the air with a grin.

"Alright, do your best. Be sure to tell him everything…And by the way, the elves don't make the toys, the yetis do." Jack added mischievously, deciding not to tell them that the other Guardians would be there too. He flew them down to the doors and quickly shot away, making sure he wasn't seen. If any of the Guardians found out he was near the Pole before the brothers explained what had happened, things would surely take a massive turn for the worse.


End file.
